Summer Dreams
by jbmaunier
Summary: Taemin and Minho have some fun in the sun, complete with ice cream mishaps, piggy back rides and perhaps a bit of innocent romance...? Minho/Taemin
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**

"Please, umma?" Taemin pleaded. The ten-year-old was finishing his daily glass of milk, the bright morning sun streaming through the kitchen windows. He opened his eyes as far as they would go, hoping his cute-doe-eyed-look would convince his mother to allow him to play outside for the day.

Key-umma sighed, wiping his hands on his flowery apron. "Alright, but make sure to stay in the park. And put on sunscreen every hour. And don't talk to strangers or follow them, even if they offer you candy."

Taemin nodded his head vigorously, his bangs flopping over his eyes. "Don't worry. I'll stay with Minho-hyung at all times."

His mother gave him an affectionate pat on the head, handing him his favourite lemon-yellow Spongebob backpack.

"I've packed some juice and cookies. Be sure to share with that nice friend of yours."

Taemin barely heard his mother's parting remarks as he had already dashed out the door and was racing across the pristine lawn towards Minho's house. Standing on his tippy-toes, he just managed to press the doorbell, then waited, literally bouncing with excitement. He, Taemin, was going to spend a _whole_ day with his favorite hyung.

The door was opened by a sleepy-looking Minho who had evidently just rolled out of bed. He was still in his pajamas, his short, dark hair standing up in all directions and a bit of drool trailing down his chin. Squinting at Taemin, he grumbled "What are you doing here so early?"

The younger boy smiled brightly. "Umma said I could play with you today, hyung."

"I don't want to play," Minho replied bluntly, frowning in annoyance. "Now go away. I want to sleep."

Even though he knew Hyung was grumpy because it was morning, Taemin's insides squeezed painfully from Minho's words. Telling himself not to be a crybaby, he bit his lip to keep it from quivering and blinked to keep the tears from spilling over.

His hyung sighed loudly, as he always did whenever he gave in. "Fine. Just let me go get ready."

In a flash, the angelic smile returned to Taemin's face and he trotted after Minho into the house, the very image of a puppy who had just been granted a treat.

"Can we fly your kite, hyung?" Taemin asked through a mouthful of toast stolen from Minho's plate.

Minho paused his pillaging of the cupboards (with Taemin, one always needed enough food to feed a small army to keep the boy satisfied) and answered, "There's no wind today."

"There might be, if I wish really, really hard," Taemin said seriously. True to his word, the younger boy screwed up his eyes, clasped his hands together and began muttering nonsensical words under his breath.

Minho rolled his eyes. His dongsaeng was quite the little oddball sometimes. Nonetheless, he acquiesced and stuffed the plastic kite in his bag along with an assortment of toys and foodstuff.

They finally set off, Taemin skipping ahead while Minho trudged behind, weighed down by his giant backpack. Together, they hiked over a grassy hill and arrived at the playground. With a joyful cry, Taemin bounded towards the swing set as Minho dumped their bags by the park bench.

"Come and push me, hyung!" Taemin called out, wriggling like a fish out of water on the swing. Minho obliged, smiling as Taemin shrieked in excitement at the first push.

The morning passed away in the blink of an eye. Together, they explored the slides and jungle gym, built castles in the sand and took turns on the swing set. Exhausted, Minho flopped down in the shade, sweat-drenched and sore from running around after Taemin. Even Taemin, with his seemingly limitless energy, was drooping a little.

"Hyung, I'm hungry," Taemin pouted, settling himself down beside Minho, resting the back of his head against the tree trunk. "Feed me…"

"You're not a baby," Minho said. "Feed yourself."

"But hyung…I'm tired," Taemin continued to whine, his head dropping onto Minho's shoulder in fatigue.

Sighing, Minho reached for his knapsack and unpacked their rations. "Here," he grunted, passing him the bottle of banana milk he had especially brought for Taemin.

As expected, Taemin's face lit up like a Christmas tree, his mouth widening into a brilliant smile.

"Thank you, hyung!" he cried out happily, throwing his skinny arms around Minho, who was rather embarrassed by the gesture. It was only banana milk after all.

The younger boy began slurping happily away, pausing only when there was but a mouthful left.

"Minho-hyung," he said slowly, almost reluctantly, "Do you want to try some?"

Minho raised an eyebrow, glancing at the dregs of milk remaining in the bottle.

"Nah, I'm good. You finish it," he answered with a smile, knowing it took a lot for the boy to give up his most beloved beverage.

Taemin shook his head forcefully, his caramel-coloured hair whipping his face and held the drink out before Minho. "Umma always said sharing is caring, and I really really care about you, hyung," he said in a resolute tone.

Minho stared into his wide, chocolate-brown eyes, which were filled with complete sincerity. For some reason, Minho's insides warmed a little at his words. Of course, he knew Taemin only meant it as a friend, but his pure, honest feelings struck something within Minho's heart.

Leaning forward, Minho took a sip and tried not to think about the fact that they had just shared their first, albeit indirect, kiss…

* * *

**A/N**: Hope you enjoyed reading :) Given our short attention spans, vignettes are all we'll ever do, so this story will be on the short side. Yes, the two are rather young, but we were working with your typical "childhood friends" scenario with more shojo-esque romantic clichés to follow. Feel free to comment :D and we promise to bring you updates as soon as March Break rolls around.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summer Dreams**

**Part 2**

"Look, it's an elephant!" Taemin exclaimed, pointing to a large fluffy cloud above them. They lay side by side on the checkered picnic blanket, watching the clouds drift slowly across the bright, blue sky. Once the sun had reached its sweltering peak, the two had taken refuge under the cool shade of a large maple.

"No it's not," Minho responded. "It's more like...a blob with a bigger blob attached to one end."

Taemin sighed exasperatedly. "Of course they're all blobs, but you're supposed to use your imagination," he said, opening his hands outward to form a rainbow in the air in front of him. "Imagination, hyung." Sometimes, his hyung was as boring and uncreative as Squidward.

"Give that one a try," Taemin insisted, pointing to a smaller cloud to their right.

"Uhh, it looks like...you actually," Minho said hesitantly.

"What?"

"Well, it's kind of round, and mushroom-like..." Minho trailed off when he caught sight of Taemin's sour expression.

Taemin glared at his hyung, puffing up his cheeks in indignation like an overstuffed chipmunk. "I do not look like a mushroom."

Minho let out a snort. "Yeah you kind of do, Minnie," he replied with a pointed glance at Taemin's hair. As if sensing Taemin's growing irritation, he added, "Think of it as a compliment. Mushrooms are small and cute and..."

"And edible," Taemin grumbled, thinking of the mushroom soup that Key-umma always made for Jonghyun-appa. "I don't want to be small and cute, I want to grow up to be as tall and strong as you, hyung." He was sick of being called a cutie-pie by his umma's friends and being too weak to unscrew juice bottles by himself.

His hyung gave him a smile, and patted his hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, you'll catch up soon, especially at the rate you're going through all that banana milk."

"Really?" Taemin asked hopefully and when Minho nodded, quickly swore to drink an extra bottle every day.

A comfortable, peaceful silence fell as the warm air cast a spell of drowsiness upon them. Combined with the sandwiches and Key-umma's chocolate-chip cookies stuffed in his belly, Taemin knew sleep was but minutes away.

"Minnie?"

"Hmm?" Taemin murmured sleepily.

Minho raised an arm and pointed to the sky. "Look, the mushroom turned into a heart."

Taemin opened his eyes and glanced up. The small, round puff of white had indeed elongated, forming rounded sides that tapered to a point at its base.

"It's pretty," he said. His umma had always told him to look for signs and had stressed that seeing hearts meant that he was surrounded by people who loved him.

_Whenever you come across a heart, be sure to express your own feelings to those around you..._

"Hyung, I love you," Taemin said softly. It was the truth. His hyung was not only his best friend, but also his big brother and occasional protector. Life without Minho-hyung simply wouldn't be same.

Through his drooping eyes, he registered the look of surprise on Minho's face. For half a second, he was afraid that his hyung didn't reciprocate his feelings and was relieved when Minho uttered a soft "Love you, too".

Smiling, Taemin allowed himself to drift off to dreamland, pleased with the thought that Minho really, truly cared about him.

_Hyung, I love you._

Taemin's words rang in Minho's ear over and over again. He shook his head to clear his jumbled thoughts. The boy was ten years old, fine, eleven in a few weeks, but nevertheless much too young to understand the kind of love that Minho had in mind. He sat up, sighed, then flopped down onto the blanket, wincing a little when he hit the hard ground.

Taemin was simply being honest, and couldn't be blamed for the turmoil that had swept through his mind. He stole a glance at the sleeping boy, curled up beside him. The rays of sun that filtered through the canopy of leaves above them caught the streaks of gold in his messy, caramel-coloured hair and illuminated his lashes, so long that they lightly grazed his rosy cheeks. His soft, full mouth was pulled up slightly at the corners in a small smile. Taemin looked so innocent, so delicate, and most importantly, so vulnerable that Minho felt the urge to hold him in his arms, shield him from the world's evils and never let him go.

Minho dragged his eyes away and forced himself to concentrate on something other than his best friend. It was no use. He had to physically get away from the boy before he did something he would regret. As he made to get up, he suddenly felt a hand tightly grasp the hem of his t-shirt.

"Don't go," Taemin whispered in a small voice, his brows furrowed above his closed eyes.

Minho froze, then slowly lowered himself back down. Well, there was no escaping now. Unconsciously, he reached out and pressed his unsteady fingers lightly on the crease between Taemin's eyebrows, hoping he could smooth the frown away. He hated it whenever Taemin was not his cheerful, grinning self. As soon as he realized what he had done, he snatched back his hand, appalled by his own lack of discipline.

"Minho, chill out," he muttered to himself. "Minnie's your friend, your little brother and a boy for god's sake...even if he does look like a girl sometimes." He hated to admit it, but Taemin was probably prettier than all the girls in his class, even without cross-dressing.

Sighing loudly, Minho pulled viciously at the grass by his feet. His gaze fell on the clusters of yellow dandelions sprouting out of the ground. Making chains of flowers (or in this case, weeds) was something so girly he would never have considered it under normal circumstances, but he really needed to keep his hands occupied before they unwittingly came in contact with Taemin again.

He got to work, plucking out the dandelions with the longest stems and awkwardly tying them together, his long fingers fumbling with the knots. It was strangely calming, almost therapeutic and he managed to keep his thoughts away from Taemin.

"What are you doing, hyung?"

Minho jumped, as if he had been caught playing with Barbies or something equally incriminating.

"Uh, I made this for you," he answered in a rush, quickly tossing the long yellow chain to Taemin as if it were a lit firecracker. Taemin slowly raised himself up, and took the strand gently in his hands.

"Thank you," he said, voice a little raspy from sleep and gazed up at Minho with his large eyes. "That was really nice of you."

Minho nodded curtly, swallowed and looked away. If he wasn't careful, he was going to drown in those long-lashed, chocolate-brown eyes and do something more than just hold him in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3 **

"Taemin, run!" Minho called out. His friend obeyed, dashing across the grass, the yellow kite held high above his head. The spool of thread in his hand began to unravel, so quickly that all he could do was hold on with all his might.

"Okay, now let go." They both tilted their heads and watched with baited breath as the wind pulled the yellow piece of plastic into the sky. Taemin cried out with delight as the kite remained in the air, its red tail swinging haphazardly like a snake on sugar-high. The boy ran back to his side, a big grin on his face.

"I told you there would be wind," Taemin said smugly. "Thank you, Aang, for using your air-bending powers to give us wind," he added with a grateful glance towards the sky.

It was so typical of Taemin to pray to a cartoon character. There was no point arguing against the Avatar-obsessed boy, though, and Minho was simply relieved that the kite had finally stayed aloft after their fourth try.

"Hyung, can I try flying it?" Taemin asked eagerly. Minho took in the boy's small, slight form, images of Taemin floating away flashing through his mind.

"I don't…"

"Pretty please with chocolate sauce, sprinkles and a cherry on top?"

Minho sighed. He really needed to figure out how to resist those puppy-eyes. "Be careful, though."

The kite remained fairly stable as Minho handed Taemin the spool. As soon as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, the wind swirled more violently around them. Minho watched with horror as Taemin was pulled across the grass by the force of the kite, his short legs barely able to keep up.

"Taemin, let it go!" he yelled as he struggled to catch up to his friend. Fear clamped down on his heart like a cold, metallic claw. What if Taemin were to fall, or worse, be dragged away by the wind?

"But it'll fly away!" Taemin screamed, panic clear in his voice.

"It doesn't matter!" As long as Taemin was safe, his whole house could blow away for all he cared.

A final gust of wind wrenched the spool from Taemin's hands. The boy collapsed onto the ground and promptly burst into tears.

"Minnie, are you hurt?" Minho panted, dropping down beside the sobbing boy and began searching for injuries. His mind ran over the mental list of provisions in his backpack. There was no alcohol to clean any cuts, but he did bring a roll of bandages and a whole box of band-aids…

"I'm okay," Taemin sniffed. "I just fell on my bum but…your kite…" Minho felt relief surge through his body as his eyes confirmed that Taemin was not mortally wounded. He wrapped his arms around the boy's shuddering body, whispering soothing sounds in Taemin's ear. When Taemin's sobs finally became quiet whimpers, he leaned back and gazed into those large brown eyes.

"It's not your fault, got it?" Minho said softly, gently brushing a piece of grass out of Taemin's hair. "Aang must have gone for a washroom break or something, which was why the wind blew the kite away."

"But…"

"The important thing is that you're safe. It was just a kite, so I can always buy another one."

"Won't your Umma be mad?" Taemin hiccupped, brows knit in worry.

Minho shrugged. "Accidents happen." When Taemin still looked unconvinced, he decided on distractions, rather than words of comfort. Taemin was young enough that his attention span was still rather limited.

"How about we go get some ice cream," he suggested. As expected, Taemin's face brightened considerably.

"Really?" the boy asked, using his small fists to wipe away the tears from his eyes.

"Yep, my treat. But only after we clean you up a bit. I don't think the ice-cream man would sell anything to a boy covered in boogers." At the word 'boogers', Taemin let out a watery laugh, and Minho knew that he was alright.

When Minho had finally erased the last trace of snot from Taemin's button nose, they set off. Taemin squealed with unrestrained joy as they ran down the hill, hand in hand. Minho, too, couldn't keep a smile off his face as he felt the wind rushing through his hair. To be honest, he was actually thankful for the loss of the kite, since it was one less thing he had to carry.

They came to a stop before the ice-cream truck, parked conveniently at the foot of the hill. It was painted with an appetizing array of sundaes, milk shakes and ice-cream cones and had already attracted a swarm of children enjoying the first week of their summer vacation.

"One strawberry cone and one mint chocolate-chip," Minho said, fumbling in his bag for his wallet. He diligently counted out the coins in his hand, glad that he had enough for two.

Taemin beamed when the man handed him the pink ice cream cone and quickly began licking away at the rounded top. Minho watched as the boy skipped happily away. Before he could cry out a warning, Taemin tripped on the ledge of the side-walk, the ice cream flying from his hands.

"Are you okay?" Minho asked, hurrying over to his friend's side. Taemin nodded, tearing up and staring mournfully at the pink blob now splattered on the ground.

Minho sighed. He had been anticipating the ice-cream as much as Taemin had, but how could he eat it now, with Taemin looking as if his favourite goldfish had just died.

"Here," he said, holding his own cone before Taemin. "You can have it."

"But what about you, hyung?"

"My stomach doesn't feel that great," he lied, wishing Taemin would just take the cone before he changed his mind.

"You're the best, Hyung," Taemin said with a winning smile.

Minho smiled back. A happy Taemin was worth an empty stomach any day.

Taemin blinked rapidly, trying to keep his eyes open. The sky had become a mix of reds, orange and yellows, a lot like that time he had dumped the three colours on his paint tray and stirred the blobs with his brush.

A slight breeze ruffled his hair and he shivered slightly in his thin t-shirt.

"Are you cold?" Minho asked. Taemin nodded, watched as his hyung fumbled in his backpack and pulled out their picnic blanket. After dusting off the grass and bits of dirt clinging to the fabric, his hyung draped it over his shoulders. It was much too long, the ends dragging on the sidewalk, but Taemin instantly felt warmer.

"Thanks. Look, I'm Super Man," he murmured, raising a fist into the air before stumbling over his feet from fatigue. In fact, he was so tired that he almost tripped over Minho, who had squatted in front of him.

"Put the backpack on and climb on," Minho ordered.

Taemin did as he was told, sighing happily when Minho stood and the weight was taken off his aching feet. His hyung was always so nice to him, never complaining when the kite had flown away, pretending he had a tummy ache so that he could give Taemin his favourite mint chocolate-chip ice-cream. Even now, he was giving Taemin a piggy-back ride even though he was probably exhausted.

"Did you have fun today?" Minho asked as Taemin pressed his cheek against Minho's warm back.

He nodded. "Today was the best-est day of my life." True, he had cried a lot and his butt still hurt from falling, but Minho-hyung had been with him every single moment of the day.

"Me too. The best-est day of my life." He couldn't see Minho's face, but he could tell by the tone of his voice that his hyung was smiling.

Taemin smiled too, as he felt his eyes droop and sleep beginning to take over his weary mind. If Jiminy Cricket was right and dreams really were wishes from his heart, then there was nothing he was going to dream about tonight. After all, everything he wished for was right here.


End file.
